Emails arrive as HTML! why?

June 20, 2014

Hi!

I just struggled over an email that I received from another member. Previously it was a standard text message and was perfect.

Now I get an HTML formatted email! Why.

Can I stop this? I don't like the overhead. Also reading on a mobile device, text messages are smarter to handle.

TIA

Martin

June 20, 2014

Agreed.

June 20, 2014

Agreed, this HTML is annoying and unwanted. At least make it a selectable preference. Leave HTML on the website and for people who select it, but let the rest of us keep our plain text please!

June 20, 2014

Please Groundspeak! Offer a switch in the profile like in other forums. Stop this HTML stuff.

Even when I want to answer I can't quote to longer emails. All text is inserted into a HTML table tag.

That is very nasty!

June 30, 2014

Why the text mail format was banned?

Is there a possibility to configure, that I can receive "Text"-mails, which also can easily be read on smartphones?

Edited June 30, 2014 by wuliwup

June 30, 2014

I want back the "TEXT" mail format. Is is not very confortable to read HTML-mails on mobile devices!!

June 30, 2014

I'm all for returning to good old plain text e-mails as well. Or at least the option to choose whichever format we'd like to receive.

June 30, 2014

Agreed!

June 30, 2014

Please bring back the plain text e-mail support!

June 30, 2014

I agree. Please bring back the plain text email support.

15.4k · June 30, 2014

+1

1.4k · June 30, 2014

Yes text

No HTML

8.3k · June 30, 2014

HTML sucks, text is cool.

6.2k · June 30, 2014

I too would like the option to choose plain text.

4.5k · June 30, 2014

I'm suppossing this was asked for by the geocaching community? I just find it hard to believe that Groundspeak would initiate a change like this for no good reason.

I too like good old fashioned text emails and would like to see it come back.

7.8k · June 30, 2014

I'm suppossing this was asked for by the geocaching community? I just find it hard to believe that Groundspeak would initiate a change like this for no good reason.

I'm sure it was done in the name of making things look fancier. Unfortunately, they've again only partially implemented a change, so we get inconsistencies in the emails that get sent by the site (ie. notification emails are still plain text).

Personally, I don't have any problems with the HTML emails. That's just me, though, and I completely understand that there are other people for which plain text is the only viable option. I'd fully support either a reversion back to plain text or an option to choose between HTML and plain text.

The format doesn't matter to me, but it does to others.

BTW, I think this would have been a good topic for discussion in the User Insights forum. The membership could have voiced their concerns before such a major (for some) change in functionality was made.

8.3k · June 30, 2014

I'm suppossing this was asked for by the geocaching community? I just find it hard to believe that Groundspeak would initiate a change like this for no good reason.

I too like good old fashioned text emails and would like to see it come back.

The weekly email use to be text. It was nice, quick and easy to scan. But then it went HTML. Your basic train wreck. But it does have some nice green in it. The comments were overwhelming bring back the text. We're still waiting. I suspect the email change will follow a similar course. Unwanted, not desired, but we get it any how.

6.8k · July 2, 2014

The html format for e-mails is very annoying. Please provide at least the option to switch back to text mode.

July 5, 2014

+1 HTML emails are really annoying.

1.2k · July 5, 2014

S.O.P.

I am sure there is a great reason behind this change. Unfortunately we likely will never get the opportunity to judge for ourselves.😢

July 6, 2014

I'd really like to know that reason. Plain text worked for me both in graphical and text environments. HTML does not.

July 6, 2014

Although it looks like it is a complete waste of time to ask, I'd like to add my request for plain text communications to at least be an option.

My email client sometimes locks up when displaying the weekly newsletter and when I asked for the option for plain text to be re-instated, I was just told to change my email client. T h a n k s.

And now the added pointlessness of email advisories in HTML.

I can only add my bewildered "WHY?".

Edited July 6, 2014 by Bunya

6.8k · July 7, 2014

My email client sometimes locks up when displaying the weekly newsletter and when I asked for the option for plain text to be re-instated, I was just told to change my email client. T h a n k s.

For the newsletter one could simply unsubscribe. However, if someone owns virtual caches or Earthcaches, one cannot choose to ignore incoming mails.

Replying to longer mails where some of the provided answers are wrong and some are correct is quite annoying.

In my opinion, the switch to html for the mails is of much higher significance than in the case of the newsletter. Moreover,

Groundspeak provides the newsletter and they might prefer html.

They are not sending out e-mails answers to my caches. I cannot see any reason for not at least allowing each cacher to choose whether or not he/she wants to

receive e-mails as html.

7.5k · July 7, 2014

In my opinion, the switch to html for the mails is of much higher significance than in the case of the newsletter. Moreover,

Groundspeak provides the newsletter and they might prefer html.

Well, yeah, although that really opens the question of why they bother to send the complete newsletter at all instead of just sending a link so we'd read it in our normal browser rather than forcing us to read it in our e-mail client. (The answer, of course, is "all the cool companies send out HTML laden newsletters.") But still, as you say, I can opt out of the newsletter. I can't opt out of getting e-mail.

4.5k · July 10, 2014

A "feature" as astoundingly bad as this must have an option to turn it off.

Edited July 10, 2014 by Viajero Perdido

July 27, 2014

Add me to the list of users wanting the plain text mails back.

2.7k · July 27, 2014

Please allow for the choice of PLAIN TEXT emails. HTML bloated size costs too much on limited data plans.

July 28, 2014

Hey look! Yet another forum topic thread requesting that HTML vs. text emails be a user-selectable preference. And I like how it was started by yet another infrequent visitor to the forums. Well, allow me to also give my support to the OP!

Please, for the love of Frog, just make this HTML email thing an option!

July 28, 2014

I'm afraid we lost this battle already a couple of years ago, but anyway: Please make text/html mails an user selectable option!

July 28, 2014

Or should I say...

me too

...just to better make my point on this reduced signal to noise ratio?

July 31, 2014

+1 for give us back plain text mails

3.3k · July 31, 2014

In my opinion, the switch to html for the mails is of much higher significance than in the case of the newsletter. Moreover,

Groundspeak provides the newsletter and they might prefer html.

Well, yeah, although that really opens the question of why they bother to send the complete newsletter at all instead of just sending a link so we'd read it in our normal browser rather than forcing us to read it in our e-mail client. (The answer, of course, is "all the cool companies send out HTML laden newsletters.") But still, as you say, I can opt out of the newsletter. I can't opt out of getting e-mail.

You could turn off notifications and archive your caches.

I've concluded that the only thing that will make the lackeys listen is if people start archiving their caches en masse in protest at things that cause them grief. Complaining in the forums clearly achieves nothing and if enough caches disappear the business model will break.

Whether enough people feel strongly enough about it to take such steps remains to be seen. If they do then Groundspeak's hand will be forced, if not then Groundspeak gets to decide whether the loss of however many caches it is, is worth the changes they clearly want to push on their customers.

7.5k · August 1, 2014

In my opinion, the switch to html for the mails is of much higher significance than in the case of the newsletter. Moreover,

Groundspeak provides the newsletter and they might prefer html.

Well, yeah, although that really opens the question of why they bother to send the complete newsletter at all instead of just sending a link so we'd read it in our normal browser rather than forcing us to read it in our e-mail client. (The answer, of course, is "all the cool companies send out HTML laden newsletters.") But still, as you say, I can opt out of the newsletter. I can't opt out of getting e-mail.

You could turn off notifications and archive your caches.

Hey, yeah! And I could change my e-mail address to something bogus so I wouldn't get the newsletter, so why did they bother with an option for that?

I've concluded that the only thing that will make the lackeys listen is if people start archiving their caches en masse in protest at things that cause them grief.

I think you're way over estimating the number of people that think this is a problem, much less so much of a problem that they can't stand getting e-mail in a slightly clumsy format.

6.8k · August 1, 2014

I think you're way over estimating the number of people that think this is a problem, much less so much of a problem that they can't stand getting e-mail in a slightly clumsy format.

There are issues beyond that. Since the format has changed, I hate to reply to longer mails where I would need an efficient manner of quoting multiple parts of the text.

I find it also hard to read the mails due to the color scheme.

Cezanne

August 1, 2014

I've concluded that the only thing that will make the lackeys listen is if people start archiving their caches en masse in protest at things that cause them grief. Complaining in the forums clearly achieves nothing and if enough caches disappear the business model will break.

Another idea would be if we all ask for a refund of our premium membership fee. Notifications mails are one of the premium features, we paid for them as they were and now they are broken.

August 1, 2014

just struggled over an email that I received from another member. Previously it was a standard text message and was perfect.

Now I get an HTML formatted email! Why.

Can I stop this? I don't like the overhead. Also reading on a mobile device, text messages are smarter to handle.

TIA

Martin

I dislike the HTML mail as well, also like many others.

BTW, I usually change the mail from Rich Text to Plain Text when I reply.

2.7k · August 1, 2014

"They can buy a Ford in any color they want, as long as it's black" - Henry Ford (after complaining, people began buying colorful cars like Chevrolet, Dodge Brothers, Oldsmobile and others)

"You can have email in any format you want, as long as it's our HTML" - Groundspeak (many are still complaining....and hoping for a reversion to plain text)

7.5k · August 1, 2014

"They can buy a Ford in any color they want, as long as it's black" - Henry Ford (after complaining, people began buying colorful cars like Chevrolet, Dodge Brothers, Oldsmobile and others)

"You can have email in any format you want, as long as it's our HTML" - Groundspeak (many are still complaining....and hoping for a reversion to plain text)

Well, that's more equivalent to "They can buy a Ford in any color they want, as long as it's paisley."

And Ford did very well, by the way.

15.4k · August 8, 2014

If Groundspeak cannot offer an option for plain text email, then perhaps it would be possible to offer the ability to filter the HTML email through Frogturd Polisher automatically.

3.3k · August 8, 2014

I've concluded that the only thing that will make the lackeys listen is if people start archiving their caches en masse in protest at things that cause them grief. Complaining in the forums clearly achieves nothing and if enough caches disappear the business model will break.

Another idea would be if we all ask for a refund of our premium membership fee. Notifications mails are one of the premium features, we paid for them as they were and now they are broken.

Good luck with that. I don't imagine there's scope in the terms and conditions to get a refund just because they change something, even if that change does break downstream processing.

It would make a bigger statement if people archived caches and stopped paying. Without people hiding caches there are no caches for anyone else to find. It's a curious business model that relies on volunteers to hide caches, more volunteers to review caches, charges people for facilities to download the caches, and then treats the volunteers badly.

15.4k · April 27, 2017

Here's another thread requesting the ability to receive plain text email:

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=344069

Emails arrive as HTML! why?

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